Mercenaries
Mercenaries, or simply Mercs, also called Mercenary guilds are a common occurrence in Aileron, albeit a highly secretive one. They are essentially warriors and soldiers hired by a particular party to perform a task or several tasks in exchange for money or some other reward. List of known mercenary groups In order of ranking: 1. Masanari Black Flowers: Known to be the highest ranking mercenary group for centuries and rising from the Hattori Clan, the Black Flowers are famous for their deadly skill and efficiency and are therefore the most expensive mercenaries to hire. The Black Flowers are considered the "jack of all trades" in that they are skilled in nearly any type of job that comes their way. One detail that sets them apart from other groups is their moral compass. The Black Flowers reject any job that involves harming innocent lives and will sometimes even take measure to prevent other mercenaries from accepting those jobs or even protecting the targets pro bono. This makes them somewhat of a pariah among other groups. 2. Blood Serpents: The second highest ranking group from the Oda Clan, the Blood Serpents are known for their strict demeanor, ruthless cruelty and merciless battle tactics. 3. Golden Hollyhocks: The third highest ranking group from the Tokugawa Clan. The Golden Hollyhocks are known for the reckless nature and often causing more collateral damage than the price of their work. For this reason, many who are aware of their reputation refuse to hire them. 4. Four Diamons: The fourth highest ranking group from the Takeda and Nakamura Clans. The Four Diamonds are often reputed for being nearly as skilled and efficient as the Black Flowers. In fact, there were initially plans to unite the two into one group that ultimately fell through. However, lacking more powerful members leaves them unable to surpass the Hollyhocks and Diamonds. 5. Green Skulls: The third weakest group, the Green Skulls are rash and energetic warriors eager to make a name for themselves and make it to the top three. 6. Silver Shields: The second weakest group, the Silver Shields are known best for their work as protective details. They are often hired as long term security or as additional guards by civilians. 7. Blue Wing: A relatively new and young mercenary guild, the Blue Wing is considered to be the weakest due to it's low level of members and their poor skill level. The most they ever get hired for or can accomplish are simple recon or recovery missions. Background Mercenaries have existed in Aileron since the early ages of humans, mantodea and lepori. Mantodea and lepori mercenaries were a rare sight due to the orientation of their respective societies. While many mercenary organizations likely existed in Aileron's earlier days, there are presently seven major groups. Each mercenary groups runs their organization differently and sometimes specialize in certain jobs. For example, one group may be better skilled in a specific type of job than another. There is a ranking system in place to show which groups are considered the best. Those ranked higher are in greater demand for their skill, efficiency and discretion, but are also far more expensive, while those ranked lower tend to be poorly skilled but more financially reasonable. Each group has their own way of doing things such as ranking individual members, training and assigning missions. Despite this, there is a generally accepted rule among all mercenaries. While on the job, any and all casualties and/or property damage falls on the responsibility of the individual who hired the mercenaries. This is a way for mercenaries to be absolved of any blame and ensure that those who hired them face the consequences for their actions. Another generally accepted rule is to maintain secrecy not just of one's organization's secrets, but also the existence of the group and mercenaries in general. To this day, mercenaries are still largely sought after for work by others. In most cases, their jobs include assassination, protection detail and thievery. Jobs can be submitted directly to a specific group or members of each group have the freedom to choose work from a job board posted by clients. These posts include details about the job such as location and a difficulty scale as well as the target(s) and objective(s). There have been known to be rivalries existing between the mercenary groups, especially towards the Black Flowers. Several other groups, jealous of their ranking and success often try to attack members. However, since Black Flowers are known to be the most skilled, they are rarely defeated, which only further incites their enemies. Category:Aileron Category:Aileron Terminology Category:A to Z